Custom Column for Folder Name AND Number??

[kksdragons]

I have many book duplicates to sort through and delete. (You don't wanna know....)

Example:

At the top of the attached PDF, is my (dumb) attempt at making this column that doesn't work.

Below this is a list of four folders for Lynn Abbey's The Nether Scroll, each with a unique number in parentheses. The book highlighted is the one I want to keep, deleting the others. Oddly enough, this book doesn't show up in the search for duplicates results; only the other three.

So....

• How do I create a column for the name of the actual book folder that will generate "booktitle (0000)"? (Is this even possible?)

• Why don't all four copies show up in the duplicates list? Why only three?

• Is there a way to list all of the book folders in Duplicates? (Four in this example.)

Hope this is the right place for this thread!

Any help would be MUCHLY appreciated!

[theducks]

{id} is the number part
{title} is the Title

You can use them in templates without creating a Custom Column

the ID Nimber also shows in Both the Comments AND the details (Tap 'I') window

[BetterRed]

I assume you're using the Find Duplicates plugin, it looks at the values in in the calibre library database not the library folder names.

Calibre uses the file system as backing (secondary) storage for it's library database. The folder & file names in a calibre library are 'arbitrary', which approximate to what's in the database (which is what you see in the book list etc) - it is better by far to ignore the author and book folders.

If you change an author or title the library folder and file names will change, in some circumstances including the book number.

BTW in Nether Scroll (5712) you have files that shouldn't be there, see attachment.

BR

[kksdragons]

Thanks for replying, theducks! Love your byline... I used to be really good at brainstorming but age, chemo, and meds have left me rather brainless. Makes life even more interesting!

Originally Posted by theducks

{id} is the number part
{title} is the Title

You can use them in templates without creating a Custom Column

I'll have to go research templates (again) and see if I can figure this out and where your {id} and {title} go.

Originally Posted by theducks

the ID Nimber also shows in Both the Comments AND the details (Tap 'I') window

Tap 'I'??? Where and would this be the same on my iMac?
======

Originally Posted by BetterRed

I assume you're using the Find Duplicates plugin, it looks at the values in in the calibre library database not the library folder names.

Calibre uses the file system as backing (secondary) storage for it's library database. The folder & file names in a calibre library are 'arbitrary', which approximate to what's in the database (which is what you see in the book list etc) - it is better by far to ignore the author and book folders.

If you change an author or title the library folder and file names will change, in some circumstances including the book number.

BTW in Nether Scroll (5712) you have files that shouldn't be there, see attachment.

BR

And thank you BetterRed for your always-helpful input.

Yes, using the Find Duplicates plugin--worked too well.

I have those extra .jpg files in the majority of my books. I didn't put them there so figured Calibre did when I picked a larger pixel cover. I don't know what they're for so hesitate to delete them. After messing up my attempts to import/copy my 7K books library from old PC to new iMac and inadvertently deleting my perfected library, I'm at a point where I'm afraid to delete anything!



I'm in shock! My wimpy attempt at the custom column for folder (at the top of the PDF I attached) WORKED!!! It was there when I started Calibre this AM. Not only do I have the exact info I wanted in its own column, but it shows up in each book's information (comments?)!

Ahhh, with a little help from my friends! Karma to you both!

[theducks]

When I say tap <letter>,

Those are standard Calibre keyboard shortcuts that apply to the selected book in the spreadsheet (view). just tap the key once

a few:
C convert
V View
I information
...

See the Help for the full (default) list. Like most things in calibre, YOU can customize the shortcut keys

[kksdragons]

I have been using Calibre for 5 years and either forgot about or didn't know about these shortcuts! Definitely going to check them all out.

[BetterRed]

@kksdragons - I can't imagine what purpose your Folder/folder_name column serves, or how you propose to maintain its value if and when a folder name changes.

If you want to open a book's folder press 'O', or click "Click to Open" in the Book Details sidebar (if it's not there then you need to select 'Path' in Preferences->Look and Feel->Book Details).

Here's most of the standard keyboard shortcuts ==>> calibre: Keyboard Shortcuts
----------------------

Kovid reserves the right to have calibre silently rename library sub-folders folders and files as and when necessary - he's done so on a least one occasion, and the vast majority users (3+ million) never even noticed.

As you know Calibre runs on a multitude of platforms - Operating Systems & File Systems in their various guises and versions.

Some platforms support very long path lengths, others support foreign alphabets, others are case sensitive, others disallow some characters. Calibre handles the variations by normalising the folder and file names to a common set of restrictions.

There could be a corner case, a change in a platform, or even a new platform (e.g. Microsoft's ReFS) that necessitates adjustment to the restriction set, which could result in silent name changes to existing library sub-folder and file names.
----------------------

I suspect those spurious files were present in your so-called 'perfect library' on your old computer, I'd put money it. I'd also put money on the fact that calibre itself didn't create them, and that there existence may have contributed to the problems you had in transferring your library.

IMO a 'perfect' library is one on which Check Library reports no errors. I run it against my libraries on a weekly basis (via the calibredb check_library command) if any errors are found I invariably know why - Ahhh, that would have happened when the power went out and I was editing that book.

I can't recall an instance where I couldn't attribute an error to something I did or didn't do. I fix any errors before doing my weekly backup.

One way to fix your library in part at least, after taking a back up of it, would be to select all books and copy them to an empty library using calibre's Copy to Library - delete after copy feature. It won't copy the spurious files, and if you set your Add Book preferences to Ignore incoming duplicates that will help you resolve your duplicates. The books that remain in your 'old' library are duplicates in respect of the Title, you need to decide what to do about them.

Once you've done that I suggest you run Find Duplicates on the new library looking for Similar Title and Author values.

BR

[itimpi]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

BTW in Nether Scroll (5712) you have files that shouldn't be there, see attachment.

i think the spurious files are from the fact that Calibre2opds has been used to generate a catalog and the user has elected to use optimised images in the catalog. The files that start with the c2o_ string are put there by Calibre2opds to optimise between runs (and it is not a problem if they get removed for any reason as they would simply be regenerated). You can add that as a string to identify files to ignore during a library check.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by itimpi

i think the spurious files are from the fact that Calibre2opds has been used to generate a catalog and the user has elected to use optimised images in the catalog. The files that start with the c2o_ string are put there by Calibre2opds to optimise between runs (and it is not a problem if they get removed for any reason as they would simply be regenerated). You can add that as a string to identify files to ignore during a library check.

I was hoping someone might know what they were. I thought they might be an artefact of some cover creation gadget, do they get copied by a Copy to library?

Good to know someone reads my posts

BR

[itimpi]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

I was hoping someone might know what they were. I thought they might be an artefact of some cover creation gadget, do they get copied by a Copy to library?

Good to know someone reads my posts

BR

Not sure if they get copied or not. However it does not seem to really matter as Calibre2opds will regenerate such files if needed the next time it is run. It is just that saving them between runs provides a significant runtime optimisation.